They are some of the best-known names in the world of modern art. Picasso, Matisse, Renoir are just a few of the easily recognizable names whose work is associated with an exhibition that recently premiered in the United States and is surprising and delighting visual art aficionados around the world.

The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde opened in May at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), where it will remain on display through Sept. 6, before departing for shows in Paris and New York.

The Steins Collect is an interesting exhibition primarily because of the positioning of the importance of the actual artists in the overall retrospective. The exhibit is not about the artists or their works, per se. Instead, the exhibit explores the amazing prescience, artistic insight and eager collecting of the Stein family – famed poet Gertrude Stein, her brothers Leo and Michael and Michael’s wife, Sarah. In so doing, the exhibit offers a detailed encounter with the artworks and the extraordinary artists, collectors and supporters who gave birth to modern art.

American expatriates in bohemian Paris when the 20th century was young, the Steins were among the first to recognize the talents of avant-garde painters like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. They acted on this recognition by aggressively collecting the works of the European avant-garde artists, providing them with the support – financial and social – well before they became internationally recognized and appreciated.

What also set apart the Steins as collectors was that they were not very wealthy. Rather, the California natives had simply been acculturated to the idea of supporting fledgling artists.

However, the Steins – most notably Gertrude Stein – offered the emerging avant-garde artists more than just a fan base. Through their personal relations with the European intellectual class and through weekly salons – precursors to social media – the Steins helped foster the intellectual and artistic environment necessary for the avant-garde to flourish. It has been asserted that the Steins’ contribution to the eventual success of these famed artists has less to do with their collecting than it did with their helping found a language and approach to interpreting and appreciating the artists’ works. After all, to much of the world in the first decades of the 20th century, avant-garde art was considered vulgar, offensive and inappropriate.

Ironically, the Steins’ appreciation for these emerging artists might have priced them out of the ability to continue collecting. As their support helped make the European avant-garde more popular, the prices of the art increased dramatically, limiting the participation of collectors such as the Steins.

Still, the Steins’ collections were individually impressive and collectively they are much more – a veritable survey of the culture that nourished and helped launch modern art in the world.

The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde brings together more than 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints and illustrated books from around the world, including many from private collections that are rarely seen. Some of the better-known paintings included in the exhibit are Matisse’s “Blue Nude” and “Self Portrait” and Picasso’s “Boy Leading a Horse,” to name just a few.
In total the exhibition includes 75 works by Matisse, 45 by Picasso and dozens more from Cezanne, Renoir, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde remains on view at the SFMOMA through Sept. 6. For more information visit www.sfmoma.org.
 

Delaware Chief Paula Pechonik is the first female elected to the post. Prior to her election, she sat on the tribal council for 15 years and the trust board and elder committee for eight years. She also fulfilled a four-year term as a judge with the tribal court, has spent two decades working on the Delawares’ Cultural Preservation Committee and has been a member of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Committee. She is also a renowned moccasin maker.

I grew up on my grandmother’s allotment north of Dewey. We would fish, gather plants and play on the creek. I always knew I was a Delaware, but when you grow up immersed in a certain culture, you don’t think about the cultural differences between you and others. It was just a way of life.

When we’d go to a powwow, I would watch my aunt make moccasins. One year when I was a young mother, I made moccasins for my children, and I brought them to my aunt so she could critique me and offer tips. I seemed to have a talent for moccasin making. Making moccasins and doing ribbon work is a tradition for the females in my family. I can count seven generations of moccasin makers in my family. I make moccasins for my family, but I’ve also made a pair for display at the New Jersey State Museum and for the Connor Prairie Museum in Indiana.

I moved to Kansas when I was a young mother but had a desire to move back to Bartlesville to become part of the Bartlesville Indian Women’s Club. Three generations of my family were in the club at the time. I started volunteering my time, going to meetings. I sat in those meetings for eight years before I ever took an office. I learned a lot about the tribe and workings of the government. You need to have that knowledge of the workings in order to go forward and work within the tribe. I had no aspirations to be chief at the time, but our government was in disrepair. I decided I needed to run and never looked back.

I’d like for people to know that the Delaware Nation is alive and well in Bartlesville. We have several projects underway in the branch of our economic development called the Delaware Enterprise Authority. We also have short-term goals we have reached, like flying our flags in front of the community center and publishing our quarterly newspaper on a daily basis. We are here trying to work for our people.

Arctic Monkeys, Suck It And See – This British rock band’s 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, still ranks as the fastest selling debut in British music history, owing a huge debt to an enthusiastic fan base who made the band an internet phenomenon. Arctic Monkeys did it again with their sophomore effort, but most would say their hot streak ended with their third album, Humbug. Early vibes for their latest effort suggest the mojo is back. June 7.

Ronnie Dunn, Ronnie Dunn – This former Tulsan, and half of the superstar country act Brooks & Dunn, is ready to spread his wings on his own. After 12 albums, 26 No. 1 singles and 30 million records sold, Ronnie Dunn is releasing his first solo effort. Dunn shares writing credit on nine of the album’s 12 tracks, and the first single, “Bleed Red,” is already a hit. June 7

Bon Iver, Bon Iver – The Eau Claire, Wis., folk quartet’s origin story is screenplay ready. Founder Justin Vernon fled to a remote cabin in Wisconsin to regroup after a series of personal setbacks – he got mono and ended up recording a critically acclaimed debut album (in the cabin). Vernon brought in a number of new collaborators for the band’s second offering and he promises a very different album. June 21.

David Cook, This Loud Morning – Former Tulsan and American Idol winner David Cook is set to unleash his second major label release, following up his self-titled 2008 certified platinum debut. Cook began working on the album after his first major tour, collaborating with a cast of heavyweight songwriters, including David Hodges and Tulsa-native and One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder. Cook also shares songwriting credits with two other Tulsans, former Midwest Kings bandmates Andy Skib and Neil Tiemann. Skib and Tiemann are also members of Cook’s band, The Anthemic.
June 28.

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food” – words of wisdom from Hippocrates. Herbs and spices have been around since antiquity and have been used for medicinal purposes, trade, gifts, sacrifices and to flavor food. Spices are made from roots, seeds and bark, while herbs are from leaves and stems of young plants.

My favorite herbs and spices fall within the “great eight” category: parsley, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon, ginger, dill, turmeric and oregano. Oregano, cinnamon and parsley contain a high oxygen radical absorptive capacity. This value is a number based on the antioxidant activity or power of the herb or spice. Antioxidants help remove cell destroying particles from our bodies.

Rosemary, when added to food, can decrease the heterocyclic amine production during grilling by 40 percent. Parsley and thyme contain apigenin, a cancer-fighting phytochemical. Thyme can be used as a mouthwash, antiseptic and a fumigant. Cinnamon may be used to help stabilize blood sugars, while ginger soothes the stomach and improves digestion. Turmeric is believed to fight against Alzheimer’s, and dill weed adds great flavor to just about any salad.

Spices and herbs are also wonderful replacements for salt. Americans consume two to four times the recommended amount of sodium, mostly from processed and restaurant foods (77 percent). Try using herbs in place of high sodium marinades for your summer grilling.

– Suzanne Forsberg, RD/LD, CDE, St. John Healthy Lifestyles

Vegetable Marinade

1/4 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/3 c. olive oil

Bring all ingredients to a boil over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Pour over vegetables of choice. Serve hot or cold.

From The Complete Book of Sauces by Sally Williams

Looking for innovative solutions for living is what SR Hughes Design Group has always done best and continues to do. The company constantly seeks new ideas and inspiration, which is what keeps them going back to Salone Internazionale del Mobile.

The annual, worldwide furniture show was held April 12-17 at the 50-acre Rho Fairgrounds in Milan, Italy. Brian Hughes has attended the show for the past decade and says that with it having more than 2,500 exhibitors displaying modern, chic designs for inspiration, the company has plenty of reasons to continue to attend.

“We’re trying to comb the world for the best kind of answers to contemporary living,” he says. “Sometimes, I get on the plane and think, ‘Can I really go and still be caught sideways?’ And it always happens. The ideas and the showmanship and the way it is done, the way the city lives and breathes it, is amazing. I just don’t know anything else like it in the world.”

Hughes’ grandmother, Sarah Rodgers Hughes, and two aunts began the design group more than 30 years ago. They asked Brian to join them about 12 years back when they were looking to reinvent the showroom. He says the company is “about being able to offer things to people in Oklahoma that they hadn’t had the opportunity to be exposed to on the local level.”

SR Hughes outfits a variety of customers.

“It goes across the spectrum of who we are and what we offer,” Hughes adds.

The design firm and Salone are about innovative and creative solutions for living, he says.

“It means you’re no longer constrained to contemporary or traditional,” Hughes explains. “It means you’re using interesting ideas to help people live the way they want to live or work the way they want to work. It isn’t restricted to indoor or outdoor.”

Attending the show is as much about getting ideas as it is about seeing the new trends in person and thus having less of a skewed opinion of them. Milan is the design leader of many things, according to Hughes, and the people there teach how to stop and take notice.

“It is what leads and the rest of the world follows,” Hughes says. “You usually see it there first. We don’t always jump on a trend. We consider carefully what things are, how they work, why we love them, and we wait to make sure we’re emotionally connected to them. We at least know what the trends are. It is nice to understand the trends.”

The showroom is open to patrons from 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The company is located at 410 S. Peoria, Suite 100 in Tulsa. For more information about SR Hughes visit www.srhughes.com or contact 918.742.5515.

When Tom Novak began working in the restaurant business back in the early ‘90s, he had no idea that one day he would be turning his hand to artistic expression.

A Connecticut native, Novak began working at the Fountains on Lewis Avenue for David Ingram while attending school in Tulsa. From there, he worked at several other restaurants until it became clear that he was ready to take a leap.

In 1991, Novak, along with partner Kyle Phillips, opened Brookside by Day. Since then, BBD, as it is affectionately called by local patrons, has become well known as one of the best breakfast places in town.

“This year will be 20 years that we will have been open,” says Novak. “We have a good following. But, I am going to turn 54 and getting around is a little more difficult. The restaurant business is not an easy job. I started to do mosaics a year ago with a friend of mine after he made one for my wife, Yolanda, and I for our anniversary.”

His friend encouraged him to try his hand at creating a mosaic mirror of his own, but Novak was reluctant to try it because, at first, it seemed too much of a challenge. For reasons that he can’t quite explain, though, Novak finally gave it a try, and since then he has made between 30 and 40 mirrors for friends, family and patrons at BBD.

“I was looking for something to do, and this has become a very fun project for me to be involved in.”

Brookside by Day is a perfect place to display these unique mediums of artistic expression, and the response from diners was immediate. Patrons at the restaurant began to buy up the mirrors on display very quickly, and soon Novak found himself with a possible new career path.

“I was looking for something to do, and this has become a very fun project for me to be involved in,” says Novak.

Novak has launched a website (www.mosaicsbynovak.com) where interested buyers can view his work and make purchases online at their convenience.

Novak stresses that there are many new pieces soon to be featured on the site for excited patrons who have been waiting patiently for his work.

One of the unique elements of Novak’s creativity, and certainly a reason for the high demand, is the originality of each of his works. Every mirror that he makes features a unique theme and design because Novak prefers not to duplicate them. Some sample mirrors feature names and corresponding themes such as: The Crown Jewel, The Fiesta (made from tile purchased at Habitat for Humanity), The Blue and The Eye of the Tiger.

The mirrors are exquisite in their intricate detail and in the wonderful myriad colors that Novak uses to carry each theme.

Whether he is working as a restaurateur or designing these beautiful mirrors, it would seem that Novak has a knack for creating elements that delight the hearts and souls of Tulsans. BBD has drawn patrons for 20 years and continues to do so. Now that same creative energy is being channeled into pieces of art that reflect a heart that loves making things that bring joy to others.

“Designing and creating these mirrors relaxes my mind, and makes me feel that I am able to create something beautiful,” says Novak.